Clyde & Co has advised private equity investors Phoenix Equity Partners and the management of Partnership Group Holdings (PGH) on the £150 million sale of the Partnership group, which is a market leader in the fast growing impaired life and care market insurance sector. Lead investor in the purchase vehicle is Cinven, one of the most significant investors in the European buy-out market. PGH management will invest in the new company as part of the deal.
“We have been working with Partnership, the leading market provider of annuities for people with serious medical conditions and those needing residential care, since its inception,” commented James O’Shea, the partner who, together with corporate finance partner Gary Thorpe, led the Clyde & Co team.
“The changing demographics of an ageing population, and a reduced likelihood that the government will fund the full cost of long term residential care, are driving strong growth of the impaired life insurance market. Cinven’s investment, its first in the insurance and financial services sector, is a testament both to the quality of the PGH management team, and the significance of this market.
For us it is tremendously satisfying that we have been able to support PGH from its formation through successive stages of growth – long term close relationships based on our in-depth insurance expertise are key to the success of our corporate insurance practice, which is now one of the biggest in the City.”
In 2005, Clyde & Co advised on the demutualisation and management buy-out, backed by Phoenix, of the Pension Annuity Friendly Society (PAFS), PGH’s predecessor. PAFS was established in 1995 as the UK’s first writer of impaired or enhanced annuities, and the 2005 buy-out marked the first ever cash demutualisation of a UK friendly society.
The new deal is subject to EU and FSA clearances.
The Clyde & Co team comprised partners James O’Shea and Gary Thorpe, who were assisted by Helen Tiplady, Jo Riley and Gemma Cooke, together with sector specialists.
